


Promise of a Future

by Maeple



Series: Touriko Week 2018 [6]
Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, F/F, Fluff, He and Touka become good friends, Hide is the best wingman, Look Touka's a disaster lesbian she once backed off because a girl told her she was pretty, Post-Canon, Yoriko honestly forgot about their anniversary but shell never admit that even after touka proposes, forgive her if she literally cannot put a ring on yoriko herself or she'll die, promise ring, proposal, so like
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 10:20:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15794526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maeple/pseuds/Maeple
Summary: There's no going back now,Touka thought, hyper-aware of the weight of the ring in her pocket.ForTourikoweekDay 6 (posted ontumblr)Prompts:Superhero/Promise/"You look happier."





	Promise of a Future

Kirishima Touka had commitment issues. Okay, maybe not _issues_ , but a healthy fear of it.

It wasn't like she shied away from making plans or setting dates, but it was all the big steps she was scared to take. Asking her best friend out? Yeah, that took some guts, especially when her friend was the sweetest girl in the world, Kosaka Yoriko.

It was a few years after the dragon incident that destroyed a good part of Japan. That made it their four-year anniversary of dating.

Touka was scared to take big steps, as if reaching the top of the stairs would mean the end of her journey, but there was no going back. She was scared, because what if that stairwell didn't lead to anything? What if there was nothing waiting for her but a twenty-foot drop at the top?

Commitment was a sort of permanence that Touka feared.

Because once you reached the top of the staircase, you couldn't go back down. Or so she told herself, though a part of her mind knew it wasn't true--she just couldn't help but worry.

So Touka was beginning to get nervous after the initial rush of courage. She sat on her couch, head in her hands.

"Oh, god, what am I doing?" she chocked out.  _Shit._

Hide was beside her, gently rubbing her back. "Hey, it's alright. You can do it."

"Yeah, I can do it--but that's not the problem!" she groaned. "What if she declines the proposal?"

Hide chuckled softly. The small circles he was rubbing on her back did nothing to soothe her frazzled nerves. "That's why it's just a promise ring--and if she says she isn't even ready for that yet, that doesn't mean the end of things. You'd still be dating, you know."

Touka knew he was right, but still, the worry pressed in on her. She let out a long sigh. "Yeah... I guess..." she said.

Yeah. That was right. It was just a  _promise ring_ \--not an engagement ring. It was just like... a pre-engagement ring.

"See? You'll be fine."

Touka hoped he was right as she stood up, brushing off her clothes, and slipped the small box into her jacket pocket.

She inhaled.

This was not a full engagement--just a promise of one to come.

She exhaled.

\---

It was such a mundane little thing, but it meant the world to Touka. Small walks like these with Yoriko were peaceful and lighthearted. Usually.

Touka stood by one of the benches, waving at the approaching human. Yoriko smiled at her, stuffing a hand in her hoodie's pocket.

"Hey, Touka," she greeted, planting a kiss on the ghoul's cheek. Touka blushed.

"Hey," she returned, her hand slipping into Yoriko's.

A familiar routine.

The park was quiet enough, one of the few left untouched by the disaster that was dragon. There were only a few other people walking about. Two kids played tag in one of the clearings with an older girl watching, an elderly man sat on a bench and fed the squirrels (though he probably shouldn't), a young woman jogged along the stone path, her hair waving from side to side as she stepped.

And then there was them, walking at a slow pace, talking about everything and nothing all at once.

"I like the new guy," Yoriko was saying. "He seems nice!"

"That's what you said about that dick who was a no-show for two weeks and didn't even call in," Touka commented, pretending like her mouth wasn't running dry and her heart wasn't racing a mile a minute in her chest.

Yoriko sighed. "That was just a one-time thing. And he apologized after, too."

"And then he quit," Touka added. "You give too many people the benefit of the doubt."

Yoriko pouted. "You're just too harsh."

Touka sighed. "Or maybe you're just too nice."

"Then I guess it's a good thing we're running that shop together," Yoriko chirped.

The only thing stopping Touka's hand from trembling in the silence that stretched between them was Yoriko's firm grasp. At first, it would seem like a comfortable silence, but to Touka, it was anything but with the nervousness of proposing the promise ring hanging over her head like a stormcloud.

Yoriko hummed to fill the gaping silence as they strolled along the path they had countless times before. Touka swallowed. The more the silence clung, the more anxious she got, the more pressured she felt. What if the walk ended and she missed her chance from putting it off? What if she did it too soon and ruined the mood?

She was a mess internally, but she tried so hard not to show it. She did almost everything right, and yet the human's sharp eye still caught on.

"Touka? You seem... odd. Everything okay?" she asked with concern, swinging their joined hands up before letting them drop.

"Uh, yeah," Touka lied.

Yoriko frowned and continued to stare at her, but still kept up their walking pace. Touka knew she didn't buy it.

The ghoul dropped her gaze to the ground, staring at her feet as they stepped, one after the other, in sync with Yoriko's.

It was now or never. The path curved a little as it started to loop back to the main park.

"Um--Yoriko?" she began hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

Touka stopped walking.  _There's no going back now,_  Touka thought, hyper-aware of the weight of the ring in her pocket.

Yoriko stopped too, her mouth slightly open as she observed the ghoul, turning to face her. Touka let go of Yoriko's hand, watching it drop back to her side.

"W-we've been dating for... four years now..." Touka swallowed as Yoriko's brown eyes widened. The ghoul waited for her to interject, but she never did. "And... those four years have been so, _so_  important to me," her voice broke. Her hands were visibly trembling, so she shoved them into her jacket pockets, one hand brushing against the box.

"I cherish every moment with you, Yoriko... I-I want you to know that you've been... a huge part of my life. Every time I felt like--like giving up, like dropping everything... I thought of you, and I knew then that I had to keep going. So that one day... I could reunite with you. So that... I would be able to stand here right now, and--" Touka's throat tightened. Shit. Was she tearing up?

Yoriko's eyes were wide, her mouth partially open, clinging onto Touka's every word.

"So that I would be able to stand here right now, in this moment, and gather the courage to ask you... if I can promise you one thing..."

Yoriko's hand flew to her mouth. Touka wasn't the only one tearing up.

"I-I know I haven't... I haven't been there in the past, sometimes... one of my greatest regrets... but I want to promise you, that from here on out, I'll be there. And for now, I want to promise you... a future with me." Touka reached for Yoriko's hand, which was compliant against her own.

Yoriko said nothing, but her eyes glittered with emotion and unshed tears.

Touka's other hand grabbed the box that had previously felt like a weight and brought it out into the open.

"I'm going to be there for you, always. If you'll let me, Yoriko."

Touka maintained steady eye contact. Yoriko met it with equal intensity and understanding. It was in that moment that Touka wondered why she had ever worried.

Yoriko was still and silent for a very long moment, speechless and overwhelmed with emotion, but gaze strong and unwavering. Finally, she managed a small but steady nod.

Touka gently placed the box in Yoriko's hand, which was now the one trembling.

Yoriko quietly drew her hand back and opened the box, removing the hand from her mouth. She carefully held the ring out, as if it were glass, the slightest disturbance fatal to the fragile object. The ring was a thin silver band, unoffensive and simple. Touka’s father’s ring. Yoriko ran a gentle finger over it, feeling the intricate details engraved into it. The human gasped when she realized what ring it was, looking back to Touka.

The ghoul gave her a soft, reassuring smile.

Yoriko closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, then slipped the ring onto her left hand's ring finger.

They both stared at it for a long moment. The ring sat on her finger almost perfectly. Touka had to get the ring resized, otherwise it would've been too big. She had gone through a lot of trouble just to find out Yoriko's ring size without asking her personally.

"--Touka," Yoriko gasped as if she had suddenly been given the ability to speak. She licked her lips, looking back up to the ghoul, meeting her eyes once more.

"...I accept your promise."

Yoriko said it softly, but she might as well have shouted it, because that was all Touka could hear in that moment. Her pounding heart ceased, her breathing stopped, the world fell still.

Yoriko's hand was still held out, afraid to move it with the ring on.

Touka's hands reached for hers again and clasped it gently in hers, stepping closer to the human. "Thank you. Happy four-year anniversary, Yoriko."

Yoriko smiled as if she had never smiled before, a giant, toothy grin that spread across her face and formed wrinkles by her eyes. She sucked in a breath.

"Touka--thank you. So, so much," she breathed.

Touka smiled gently at the sweetest girl in the world, stepping closer to envelop her in an embrace. Yoriko's arms snaked around her torso and held her close.

"I promise, though maybe I haven't done so in the past, that from here on out, I'll watch you. I'll see you as you are. I want to promise that in this future you've pledged to me, I'll no longer avert my eyes; you no longer have to hide from them," Yoriko whispered into her ear.

Touka hugged her tighter, the weight of her words sinking in. Both of their greatest regrets turned into declarations of the future.

A future they were promising to spend together.

"I accept your promise."

**Author's Note:**

> :")) I really liked writing this, so thanks for reading!!
> 
>  ~~Yoriko almost forgot about their anniversary oops~~.


End file.
